The present invention relates to a skate with in-line wheels.
Conventional in-line roller skates comprise a shoe comprising a quarter articulated to a shell, which has a rigid sole that is associated, in a downward region, with a usually U-shaped support or frame between the wings whereof wheels are pivoted. The wheels are thus arranged in line with respect to each other.
These conventional skates have some drawbacks: when skating, and particularly during thrusting, difficulties are in fact encountered in optimally and completely transferring the thrust imparted by the user, thus decreasing the effectiveness of the thrust and the comfort for the foot.
The user in fact tends to transmit forces mainly at the region of the foot sole lying below the metatarsal region, but the rigidity of the support and of the sole of the shoe instead force him, during thrusting, to fully rest the foot sole on the shoe sole, so that the transmitted forces are divided between the wheels that are pivoted at the front and the wheels that are pivoted at the rear, with a consequent loss of effectiveness in thrusting.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/451,621 filed May 26, 1995 discloses a roller skate with improved fit that is constituted by a first front body, for resting and locking the front part of the foot, and by a second rear body, for resting and locking at least the heel.
The first body and the second body are transversely rotationally associated to each other in a region that lies approximately above the pre-arch portion of the foot and in the interspace that lies between a first supporting frame and a second supporting frame for one or more wheels associated with said frames in a downward region.
Although this solution allows articulation of the shoe, it nonetheless has drawbacks: in fact, the rotation, stability, and overall rigidity of the skate are correlated only to the articulation point, which is not sufficient for their optimization.
These drawbacks are increased by the fact that during sports practice the skate is subjected, during periods of maximum thrusting, to continuous and often violent lateral stresses, as can occur for example when skating along a curve or during slalom skating or in particular during so-called "side-slip" braking.
The articulation point must therefore absorb all these applied stresses and at the same time ensure the rotation and rigidity of the shoe and good stability of the foot; however, these conditions cannot all be met simultaneously.
During skating, the foot is in fact subjected to considerable vibrations and lateral stresses that accordingly decrease the user's sensitivity in utilization and the lateral stability of the implement.
The user is also forced to increase the force in order to achieve optimum stability of the skate, with consequent tiring during exercise and reduction in comfort throughout sports practice.